Contents
HSEE Syllabi are given below.
ENGLISH (25% MARKS):
This section tests the candidate‟s ability to understand and use standard English, and to appreciate literary language. Questions are related to the following areas:
=> Reading skills: Candidates will be required to read the given passage/s that aim to test their comprehension skills.
=> Grammar: This section tests the candidate‟s knowledge of English grammar such as sentence structure and usage, the use of tenses, verb patterns, articles, and active and passive constructionsetc.
=> Vocabulary: This section examines the candidate‟s vocabulary skills. Candidate‟s ability to understand meaning, structure and colocation of words is tested here.
ANALYTICAL AND QUANTITATIVE ABILITY (25% MARKS):
This section tests the candidate‟s analyitical skills and quantitative abilities. Questions are related to the following areas:
Numbers, Algebra, Highest Common Factor (HCF) and Lowest Common Multiple (LCM), Calendar, Basic Statistics – Average, Ratio and proportion, Profit and Loss, Percentages, Simple and Compound Interest, Work and time, Discount, Age sums, linear equations, elementary trigonometry.
Data Interpretation, Analytical Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, brainteasers, and patterns.
GENERAL STUDIES (IN FOUR PARTS-50% MARKS):
Indian Economics:
This section is intended to test the understanding of some basic economic concepts and awareness of key issues pertaining to the Indian economy with a focus on the developments after independence. The concepts and issues covered are:
=> Understanding the Economy: Scarcity, opportunity cost, resource allocation, economic systems and their characteristics, features of market economies, forces of demand and supply, elasticity of demand and supply
=> Main Features of Indian Economy: Natural resources; human resources- population size and composition, literacy and education, occupational distribution
=> Major Economic problems: Poverty, Unemployment and Inequality – concepts, measurement, trends, sectoral distribution and policies, inflation – trends, causes and remedies
=> Economic Growth and Development: Meaning and measurement of economic growth, stages of development, national income concepts and trends, trends in savings and investment; human development index, national policy on education, health and health care policies
=> Planning in India: Five-Year Plans- objectives, priorities and problems
=> Sectoral Development: agriculture – green revolution and technological changes, current issues and policies; industry- evolution of industrial policies in India (from 1948), strategies for industrial development, public and private sectors, small and cottage industries, infrastructure, transport and communication, service sector, consumer awareness
=> Foreign Trade and International Economy: balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves and trade policy, I.M.F., W.T.O., international aid for economic growth
=> Money, Banking and Public Finance: concepts of money and measures of money supply, role of Reserve bank of India and commercial banks, banking sector reforms; taxes, expenditure and government budget, concepts of deficits, Finance Commissions
Indian Society:
=> Structure of Indian Society — Indian Social Demography – Social and Cultural Differentiations: caste, class and tribe – Institutions of marriage, family and kinship – Political Institutions.
=> Social Change in India — Sanskritization, Westernization and Secularization – Social Movements and Regionalism –– Panchayatraj Institutions – Affirmative Action Programme of the Government – various reservations and commissions.
=> History and the Making of Indian Society — Mughal era and the social changes – British Raj – Sepoy Mutiny – Reform Movements in the 19th century – Freedom Movement – Independence and the emergence of India.
=> Indian Philosophy and Indian Thinkers — Jainism and Mahavira – Budhha and His teachings – Vedanta and Shankara – Sikhism – Sufism – Gandhi and Non-violence.
World Affairs:
=> Emergence of the US and USSR; emergence of UN system; the Cold War and nuclear race; disintegration of Soviet Union, decline of Communism and rise of nationalism; Arab-Israel conflict; India and the World; NAM and role of India; Indo-Sino and Indo-Pak relations, conflict and wars.
=> Democracy and Development; Challenges to democracy; North-South divide on issues of development; UN and its various developmental and peacekeeping operations; Nuclearisation and non-Proliferation; India in SAARC and ASEAN; International terrorism, fundamentalism and the War on Terror; Indo-US relations; New centers of power in Asia, Latin America and Africa.
=> Hunger and Poverty; Human Rights, Democracy and Development; Environmental degradation and green politics; Issues of Race, Ethnicity and Gender; Deprived Classes and minority politics; Religion in the contemporary world; Culture and Civilization; Globalization and changing economic, cultural and political landscape; Mass media and cultural change; Emergence of various popular mass movements.
Environment and Ecology:
=> Global Environmental Picture: Population Growth, Degradation of Soils, Global Atmospheric Changes, Loss of Biodiversity.
=> What are Ecosystems? Structure of Ecosystems – Biotic Structure, Categories of Organisms, Feeding and Non-feeding Relationships. Ecosystems and How they Work, Elements in Living and Non-living Systems, Energy Laws, Nutrient Cycling.
=> Pollution – Major forms of Pollution and their Impact, Primary and Secondary Pollutants, Control Strategies, Indoor Pollutants, Global Warming, International Treaties.
=> Principles of Solar Energy, Hydropower, Wind Power, Biomass Energy, Ocean Thermal Energy, Geothermal Energy, and Tidal power.